As in she’s been coaching at the school 10 years, and in each of those seasons she has had entries in the regional meet.

This year it will be the Lady Pirates as a team, along with Kristian Samaniego from the Pirates. The Lady Pirates took third place in the District 7-4A team standings Saturday in Fort Worth, while Samaniego placed third among the boys individually.

“I am so impressed,” said Ward. “They have worked extremely hard and improved tremendously since the beginning of the season.

“We always tell them you get out exactly what you put in, and they were determined to make regionals.”

The Lady Pirates scored 76 points. Arlington Heights won with 34, followed by Aledo with 35.

Samaniego, who won district as a junior, clocked a 17:02 over the 3.1-mile course. The Lady Pirates also had a top-10 finisher in Rachel Perriello, who was eighth in 22:15, while Mikayla Carpenter narrowly missed the top 10 by finishing 11th in 22:27.

The Lady Pirates qualified despite losing Alex Hammond, to an injury 2.5 miles into the race.